The number of persons infected with the UK strain of the coronavirus have increased to 90, the health ministry said on Saturday even as flights from Britain resumed after a 16-day suspension to prevent the spread of the mutant strain in India. According to the ministry, all the 90 persons have been kept in a single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine.
‘Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is also on,’ the ministry added. India first detected the ‘more transmissible’ UK strain of SARS-CoV-2 on December 29 when six passengers who had returned from Britain were found to be positive with the new variant genome.